title: An extreme ultraviolet Michelson interferometer for experiments at free-electron lasers.
abstract: We present a Michelson interferometer for 13.5 nm soft x-ray radiation. It is characterized in a proof-of-principle experiment using synchrotron radiation, where the temporal coherence is measured to be 13 fs. The curvature of the thin-film beam splitter membrane is derived from the observed fringe pattern. The applicability of this Michelson interferometer at intense free-electron lasers is investigated, particularly with respect to radiation damage. This study highlights the potential role of such Michelson interferometers in solid density plasma investigations using, for instance, extreme soft x-ray free-electron lasers. A setup using the Michelson interferometer for pseudo-Nomarski-interferometry is proposed.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Optics and Quantum Electronics, Friedrich-Schiller University Jena, Max-Wien-Platz 1, 07743 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Vinzenz
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hilbert
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Blinne
authors.forename: Silvio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fuchs
authors.forename: Torsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Feigl
authors.forename: Tino
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kämpfer
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rödel
authors.forename: Ingo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Uschmann
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wünsche
authors.forename: Gerhard G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Paulus
authors.forename: Eckhart
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Förster
authors.forename: Ulf
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Zastrau